A transformer-based semi-autoregressive framework for high-speed and accurate de novo peptide sequencing

peer-reviewed · Communications Biology · 2025

peer-reviewed · Communications Biology · 2025. Yang Zhao et al. De novo peptide sequencing directly identifies peptides from mass spectrometry data, playing a critical role…
Date 2025-02-14
Type peer-reviewed
Venue Communications Biology
Publisher Nature communications biology
Contribution algorithm
DOI 10.1038/s42003-025-07584-0
Citations (OpenAlex) 8
Venue 2-year citedness 5.62

Abstract

De novo peptide sequencing directly identifies peptides from mass spectrometry data, playing a critical role in discovering novel proteins and analyzing complex biological samples without reliance on existing databases. To address challenges in both speed and accuracy, a transformer-based model, TSARseqNovo, incorporates two key innovations: a Semi-Autoregressive decoder for parallel prediction of multiple amino acids and a Masking Refinement decoder for refining low-confidence predictions. These features significantly enhance sequencing efficiency and accuracy. Evaluations on the Nine-Species, Aggregated, and Glycoproteomic datasets, demonstrate that TSARseqNovo outperforms state-of-the-art models, including CasaNovo, NovoB, InstaNovo + , and π-HelixNovo. Specifically, TSARseqNovo achieves up to a 2-fold speed increase over CasaNovo and π-HelixNovo, and approximately 10-fold over NovoB and InstaNovo + , while also showing substantial improvements in peptide prediction precision, especially for long peptides. These advancements position TSARseqNovo as a powerful tool for accelerating high-throughput proteomics research and addressing increasingly complex biological questions. A novel model for analyzing complex biological samples without reliance on databases has been proposed, demonstrating a 2- to 10-fold increase in speed and improved peptide identification precision compared to the current state-of-the-art model.

Authors

  1. Yang Zhao · Beijing University of Technology, National Institute of Metrology
  2. Shuo Wang · National Institute of Metrology
  3. Jinze Huang · Beijing University of Technology, National Institute of Metrology
  4. Bo Meng · Beijing University of Technology
  5. Dong An · National Institute of Metrology
  6. Xiang Fang · Beijing University of Technology
  7. Yaoguang Wei · National Institute of Metrology
  8. Xinhua Dai · Beijing University of Technology

Methods and tools

Cites (15)

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